Tough Love and Tecates
Mother-Daughter Duo discussing, life, love, financials, and goals.
Tough Love and Tecates
Learn The Rule Of 72 And Stop Letting Interest Work Against You
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Money shouldn’t be a mystery only insiders understand. We sit down with educators Paulina Espinosa and Irvana Sandoval to translate complex ideas into simple moves you can use today, from the Rule of 72 to the hidden cost of parking cash at 1% while carrying cards at 28%. Their stories—leaving a university job and a salon chair for flexible, purpose-driven work—frame a bigger mission: turn financial literacy into a practical toolkit for families, students, and small business owners.
We walk through crystal-clear examples that reveal how compounding can build wealth or compound pain. You’ll hear a side-by-side comparison of savings versus investing using a $10,000 case study, a straightforward guide to how much a 25-year-old might invest monthly to reach $1 million by 67, and why waiting until your 40s raises the bar. We also tackle credit card debt with honest talk about when consolidation helps, when it doesn’t, and how to choose a plan based on your actual numbers. No jargon, no shame—just math you can verify and steps you can repeat.
One highlight is the “million dollar baby” strategy: small, early contributions that let time do the heavy lifting for your child’s future. Whether it’s a single lump sum left to grow or a few years of modest monthly deposits, the aim is a legacy built on simple habits, not big incomes. We also break money taboos at home, arguing that financial literacy is a human right and a conversation every family can start with plain language and shared goals. Ready to move from guessing to planning? Grab the ebooks, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and book a one-on-one financial evaluation. If you value this kind of practical money talk, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one concept you wish you’d learned in school.
Meet The Guests And Their Why
SPEAKER_01Hi guys, welcome to this week's episode of Tough Love and Tecates. This week we have some incredible guests.
SPEAKER_00If you guys would like to introduce yourselves. Of course. We're so excited to be here. Um my name is Paulina Espinosa and I'm 27 years old. I am a proud mom of a seven-year-old named Sofia. And I'm also an entrepreneur in the financial industry. And before this chapter of my life, I used to be a hairdresser. And I yeah, and I I used to love making people feel confident from the outside, right? But now I get to make them feel build that confidence inside out through financial literacy. What drew me to this industry was the time freedom that it gives me as a mom. And most importantly, the purpose of helping people take control of their money, learning how money really works, and take control of their future. So that's where I'm at right now. Thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_03And my name is Irvana Sandoval. Thank you for the invitation. I've been uh doing this for 15 years, and I really enjoy and love what I do. I used to work as uh Paulina maybe in a different industry. I used to work at the university. I love to work with the students, but uh it got to the point that also I was growing my family. I'm a mother of three, and I needed more flexibility. And I was stuck in my position, usually in those types of positions with the government, for the ones that they work with the government. To move up, sometimes the person needs to retire or die. That's what you're waiting for. Yeah, and and you know, since I was a little girl all the time, yeah, I had this feeling that I wanted something, make something bigger, have my own business. And it's been a great journey, uh, being able to help individuals, a passion that I have. And I it's very fulfilling.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for having us. We're excited. So tell us about um wealth. Um sorry, I'm so sorry. Can I cut that out? Okay. So tell us about wealth um wealth. Wealth wave. Wealth wave. Okay. So tell us a little bit more about wealth wave and what you guys do.
What WealthWave Does
SPEAKER_00Of course. So we're basically here to solve the number one economic crisis happening right now worldwide that affects over five billion people, which is financial literacy. So we have built a solution with either books, ebooks, videos, um, classes, one-on-one training where we sit down and talk to individuals so that they can learn how money really works. And this can go all the way from talking to individuals, to businesses, to schools, even. We we are really strong advocators of just having that education approach in an industry that it's been led by selling.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, we connected because I was walking in the office, and I've always like my my next goal in my career is to push financial literacy to high school kids because I know that there is a void there. There's an underserved community that they're not given the tools and resources that they need. And so that's where we kind of linked up because I saw all their stuff. They have like the coolest stuff, literally financial literacy that it was like a magnet that I said, okay, I need to connect, I need to see what tools they have, what resources they have, because I don't like to recreate the wheel if I don't have to. So um, I'm excited for us to be a part of this and to like see where we can take all the tools and resources that you guys provide and share them with the community.
The Rule Of 72 Explained
SPEAKER_02Yes. And I've heard you uh refer to the rule of 72. Can you please tell us uh what is the rule of 72 and why is it important? I love this concept.
SPEAKER_03Let me just uh tell you. I have a background, my background, I graduated uh I have in business administration, I have a degree and I have a master's concentration in finance. But this concept, I never learned it in school. So that's why it's one of my favorites. And basically, what it is is uh a mathematical shortcut just to know how often how long it will take for your money to double. For instance, do you just take the number that uh 72, and then if you divide it by the interest rate, let's say your checking account, let's say that it's giving you a 1%. 72 divided by one, 72 years, right? So that means that if you have money in a savings account or checking account that is giving you a 1%, every 72 years, your money is gonna be down. Yeah. But what about if we have a higher interest rate? If we have a 6%, now 6% every 12 years your money will be double. So much better, right? What about 12% every six years? And sometimes we underestimate the interest rate. We say, oh, but it's only 1% or 2%, but we don't see it like in the long run. What is the difference? We want for our money to be doubling more often. Yeah, and let me tell you something, we don't understand this concept. So if you don't make it, it's gonna go against against you. In which form? In a credit card. Credit card works in the same way. Just bring to your mind your credit card. What is the interest rate that we have? What is how what is the interest that you have to do?
SPEAKER_01At least 28% on a good day.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Today, that's the looks.
SPEAKER_03So it divides 22% divided by 29%, 30%. So that's when we hear people that it's very impossible or very difficult to get rid of. Credit card debt.
Tackling High-Interest Credit Card Debt
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because the interest is just compounding. It's doubling too fast, doubling, yeah, at a rate that nobody can even make the payments, even if you make your minimum payments. And so at that point in time, what do you suggest for people that you know if they're going, if they're trying to battle what it is, the situation that they're already in with credit card debt, like what are some of the strategies that you would say would be a good source for them?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that that's a very question. And just to tell you, like it depends on every situation. Yeah, because sometimes we will be able to say, what about if you maybe a consolidation? But we some sometimes we have cases that you're not gonna be able to consolidate because you have too much debt, your credit, your credit core is not good. So we have to take a different route to do it, or sometimes you don't have that much debt that we can manage it in a different way. So it's gonna go case by case.
Savings vs Investing: Zoe’s Example
SPEAKER_01Yeah, every person's situation is gonna be different. So that's where you know it's important to sit down with one by one, one on one on one on one to figure out. Yeah, makes sense. So tell us the difference between somebody putting this money in a savings account um or you know, a CD versus an investment account um with compound interest.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so we actually have a really cool example on the book, and it's about this character, Zoe. She's 19 years old and she just received an inheritance of$10,000. And she wants to know where should I put it at one per what percentage, how many doubles do I need for that money to reach a million dollars by the time I'm 67?
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00So let's say right now you were saying, okay, what's the comparison of like maybe keeping it at a savings account, which would be, if you're lucky, at a 1%, right? Usually it's 0.15%. Okay. Um, so this means that if she if she were to keep that money there, then her$10,000 would turn into$16,000 by the time she's 67. So she didn't even get one double. But now what happens if she puts her money at a 6%? We can see that she gets four doubles. And this means that by the time she's 67, she'd actually have$160,000. What a difference, right? Already. Okay, so what now what if she finds somewhere to put it at 12%? This is where she gets eight doubles. And the difference, it's insane. She she would have more than$2 million for her retirement. That same$10,000. That same$10,000 for just not in anything out.
SPEAKER_01Not putting anything on that one time$10,000 investment at 19 years old. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00It's not mind-blowing.
How Much To Invest For Retirement
SPEAKER_01I mean, I was gonna go like this. Why didn't we do that? You left me too. I know I would never leave anybody hanging, but anyways, but I was like, dang, why didn't we do that? But, anyways, this is why we're here is to learn because there's so much information that is not given to us that this is what we want to, this is what you guys think about. We should have learned in school. This is what we should have.
SPEAKER_00This is what we're teaching. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, as me as like a 23-year-old, uh, how much should I be investing and where to not worry about re-um, to not worry about retirement?
SPEAKER_03So we have a table that hopefully is a guidance. Like, let's say that you have your goal is to have a million dollars dollars in retirement. And we are talking about retirement being uh retired at age 67, because that's usually the retirement age right now, the full retirement age for Social Security.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03All right. So if you are like we have in our example, if you are 25, you have to save$178 in an account that's gonna give you a 9%. So if you get a rate of return of a 9%, 178. But the longer we wait to start saving for that retirement or for any other goal, the more that we have to save. You see it or you're gonna see it on the table. Like uh, if you wait until you are uh age 45, it's a little above$1,200 a month. So that's why many people they cannot retire and they don't want to talk about these topics. Why? Because it's start like uh making it more difficult to reach your retirement goal.
Earning More To Fund Your Future
SPEAKER_01Well, we're gonna have another podcast segment all about this thing that I'm just gonna touch on really quickly is if you look at the graph and you see that, you know, the older you are, it goes from investing a couple hundred dollars to maybe, you know, me in my 40s, it would be like$1,200 a month or something like that. So I'll just touch on it lightly. A lot of times, you know, being a part of Wealthwave gives you that ability to earn a little bit of extra money part-time on the side. That way you can either use that money to get out of debt or start investing for retirement so that the years of you being a part of the workforce, you can slowly start trickling them down and still be able to have a good retirement for your family.
SPEAKER_00Yep. That's what I love about the company. Like it does disturb, but we often have a solution for you. You know, we don't just like leave you hanging and all freaked out.
Million Dollar Baby Strategy
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, and if I'm being perfectly honest, that's what pulled me into the company. Like I'm 43 years old. I'm no spring chicken, but I and I always thought that I knew so much about investing, about money, about stuff like that. But it was, I can't teach what I don't know. So for me, it was like, let me go straight to the professionals, let me go straight to somebody that's done this for 15 years, for four years, that has all that experience and get it straight from the experts that way, you know, and not only like do I have something to share with other people, but I'm learning so much about the process. And so I guess my that brings me to my next question. Like me, now that I'm gonna be a grandma of three, I'm gonna have three grandbabies. Like, so what are the strategies? What do I need to do to leave them not so much, you know, like for me, like birthday parties, birthday parties, my kids, I would throw the biggest birthday parties, and they would, I don't even know that anybody's had a birthday party with less than$500. Knowing what I know now, I would have taken that$500 and instead of taking them to Target to Walmart to buy more crap after they just got a bunch of gifts. Gifts, sorry, thank you, everybody came to cards. Um, gifts, um, to buy more of that, like I would have invested. I would have, you know, put that money into accounts for them. So tell us what's the best strategy to be able to use that money and put it away to leave our kids something that's of real value.
SPEAKER_00Totally. So we actually have this concept called the million dollar baby, and it's a way where you can leave a legacy for your kids without having to be wealthy. So it's kind of like putting a little bit away, but using the advantage, the advantage that your time that your kid has, which is time. You know. So for example, we're gonna give you some examples on how you can set this strategy up. It's a strategy, it's not a product, it's not, but this is this can be um set up in many different ways. We're gonna show you two. So, for example, we have Dana. She had her daughter, and she's gonna put$13,000 away for her daughter and leave it at a at an account that has compound interest at a 6.5%. We're going conservative, okay? And she's gonna leave the money there and leave it until her daughter is 67. So this means that when her daughter's uh gonna retire, she's gonna have a million dollars. That's why we call it the million dollar baby.
SPEAKER_01And just from that one-time$13,000 investment. And you just leave it there, you don't put any.
SPEAKER_03But maybe you're gonna say$10,000,$13,000.
SPEAKER_00I don't have too much. So there are different ways to do it. Totally. And before we get into that, I just want to show like the difference it makes to wait. Sometimes we're like, oh, wait until they're 18. Okay, so what would happen then? That means that same thing,$13,000 by the by the time her daughter is 18, her money would go grow to$300,000. It's still a lot, it's still a good gift to give. To better than nothing, you know, for sure. Well, and you had 18 years to save it. And you had 18 years. I just, you know, but sometimes it's not possible. Yeah. Sometimes you don't have that amount. So now let's look at Hector's case. He had a son. When his son was born, he put$2,500 into that account. And then he said, okay, for four years, I'm gonna save$250 a month. I'm gonna put that into that account. And then I'm gonna leave it alone. Same thing would happen by the time his son is 67, he would have a million dollars for his retirement.
SPEAKER_01And that's that's putting$2,500 and$250 a month for four years. Just four years. So by the time the kids are five, you can let them spend their birthday money on whatever the heck they want. But that is a way to leave your baby with a million dollars by the time they're ready to retire.
SPEAKER_03Think about this one, like when you purchase a house, you give you give a down payment and then you make your payments for two to like four, five, six years, right? Yeah. So with this one, instead of doing it for six years, if you do it for four years, something like reasonable, 250, you can make an impact on the life of a kid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. Okay. Well, and it's it's leaving them something that I mean, me personally, I'm I'm the mom that I wouldn't even say anything. I would just probably be be ashes in the ocean when my kid turns 67, and they'll be like, My mom left me this. Oh my god, she's so cool. But I mean, just just to know that that's something that you could do for your children that wouldn't put a burden on you, that it's manageable, I guess. Not so much a burden, but it's manageable. And you could leave that for your kids. I feel like that's everything.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Exactly. And same thing would happen if he was to wait till his son is 18, then the same thing, he would have$300,000 for his retirement, right? So it's just that importance of like starting now, uh, even if they're already grown up, you know, but like you're just setting something up, like it's better than nothing, like being able to.
SPEAKER_01And these are just examples of numbers because every again it goes back to everybody getting a one-on-one consultation to find out what your budget is, what it allows, and what you can do. But there's so many strategies that will give you the same outcome just based off what your actual position is. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03Which is very important. And I think uh every time that I see a strategy because I have my three kids, I can tell you by being with this company and learning this concept, I have been able to apply it to my kids. So sometimes I go sit down with clients, and I know that my kid has more money than the individual that is in front of me in these savings accounts, and I'm not saving a lot of money. I mean, it's just a fraction. Well, it's just but I know the impact that I can, I already make a change in my legacy. Yes. I'm already teaching this concept to my kids because I want to change my family tree. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Well, you want to change, like from going, I feel like so many of us were raised through no fault of our parents. Like they did the best that they could and with what they knew, with what they knew and what they had, you know what I mean? But it we culturally, so many of us are wired into the what is it, the survivor, the not the survival mode. Not survival mode. There's another word, and I can't think of it. It starts with a deep.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's gonna be hard to think about. Let me let me tell you what I think about it. Have you seen the movie Encanto? Yes, yes, okay. That nobody wants to talk about Bruno. Our Bruno is the money. Nobody wants to talk about, yeah. We don't talk about Bruno.
Breaking Money Taboos At Home
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, as kids, we were taught you don't ask about money. You don't ask about money. Money is your money. I mean, I I know I would even tell my kids, well, how much does that they ask me, how much does that cost? How much does that cost? And my response to them would be like, Are you gonna pay for it? No, then don't worry about it. You know what I mean? And it was just such different dialogues and conversations that are, you know, in instilled in us around money. Um, and you know, from not even being able to, you know, from being able to provide to it being being able to provide, being looking at as a like a burden. Uh, oh my God, I have to provide for my family, where it's like another conversation on another podcast where we had where it's like, if you're doing what you love, like if you're using the gift that God gave you to do what you love, like you're gonna be able to provide. It's just a matter of, you know, knowing what to do, having the systems, having the education, having the tools of knowing what to do with it. Because I mean, from myself, like I could tell you when I out of high school got out the gate and I charged up all these credit cards and I did all this stuff and I had no idea what I was doing. And then I got out of it and I did it all again as a 25-year-old. Like I bought my home. You know, once you buy your house, they send you every credit card under the moon. Um, and you're approved for them already because you have this big asset that they can come after. So then you live beyond your means, max everything out, and then it's just, you know, it can be an endless cycle until you learn literally how many works.
SPEAKER_03And we see, I mean, we see it, and probably I can tell you I have gone through the same process. That's why I feel that I'm very blessed with the company because I've been able to learn, I've been able to apply it and help myself first and help my family, help my friends, and it's time to help our community. Yeah, to go and get it.
SPEAKER_00It's so important. Honestly, it's one of the newest, um, I guess, highlights of the company that have like been like it really got into my my brain. It's been that financial literacy is a human right. Yes, you know, and everyone should know that information. It's a lot of them.
SPEAKER_03That is cool. And most of the time, not in our house.
SPEAKER_02So that's what we're here for. That's why we love what we do.
Financial Literacy As A Human Right
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much for being here, ladies. I was appreciated. I loved you guys being here. If you want to learn more, um, be sure to click the link below. You'll get access to all the ebooks. And then you can also click on the Calendly if you would like to set up a time to have your own personal one-on-one financial evaluation to figure out, you know, for my clients, it's one, I help you buy a home. So this is going to be a free service that I offer to all my clients where we do a one-on-one financial evaluation to help you protect your assets, to help you make sure that, you know, this asset that you bought for your kids doesn't become a burden when, you know, should God forbid something happen to you, you're put in a position that you need to protect what's already yours. So we'll give you all the tools and resources needed. So thanks for stopping by this week. We'll see you next time. Thank you. Bye bye. Thank you, ladies. Thank you.